‘Adamant #4:’ Comic Book Review

Over the past three issues, we’ve seen Adamant, the indestructible superhero, in a number of different adventures and predicaments, both past and future, as he battles his nemesis, Dr. Alpha. Now, in issue #4, we finally get to see the origin story: how Adamant came to be and how his destiny and Dr. Alpha’s became inextricably intertwined.

First, in the future, Adamant confronts the older, despotic version of himself who probes his mind to find out if they’re really the same person. Then, in flashback, we see a strange, potentially dangerous discovery by two agents of A.R.M. (the defense organization Adamant answers to) and how that discovery eventually makes both Adamant and Dr. Alpha into the people we’ve come to know. We also get a bit of an idea of how the older Adamant came to be a villainous, power-hungry madman, rather than the idealistic crusader for justice that Adamant of the past was/is.

This may be my favorite issue of Adamant so far. The story is really starting to take shape in some fascinating ways. There are also some fun Easter eggs to be found, with a number of characters speaking in familiar quotes from popular songs, movies, and TV shows.

I also love the artwork in this comic. As always, the scenes set in the present/future are drawn by Ian Waryanto, while the flashbacks are done by a different, guest artist—Fernando Pinto in this case. In some issues, the contrast can be jarring. In this one, the two artists’ styles are similar, but still distinctive, so the effect is less drastic, but still interesting to notice.

The deeper we dive into this story and this world, the more compelling it becomes. This is more than just a superhero comic, or a time travel comic. It’s a really unique and captivating sci-fi story. I’m really looking forward to seeing how things play out.